Thread: Dragging brakes

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I put new brake shoes on the front of my '65 Rambler American today, as a last effort to get the brake shoes from getting pulled out on the drivers side ( everything else is new ).. put them on and things fit better with these new 1's but.. I went to put on the drums and the pads are too thick to fit correctly, they just barely fit with the adjusters all the way in, and they drag really bad. what can I do? should I just drive off the extra material, or should I have the drums machined .002?

Have the shoes arched to fit the drums.

Make sure all of your parts are on correctly and that the small shoe (primary) is in front. Make sure your adjuster is really in all the way and that it is sitting on the right spot on the shoes. Make sure your return springs are on right and pulling the shoes into the wheel cylinders all the way.

Sometimes the back part of a shoe will hang up and keep the shoe from going into the wheel cylinder as far as it should. Grab the shoes in both hands and squeeze them together to seat them. You shouldn't have to have the drums turned. Compare the old shoes to the new ones to make sure they are the same. Something is keeping the shoes from contracting all the way.

Don

Don't cut the drums, cut the shoes. Take a shoe off and fit it in the drum, it likely only touches at the ends. Sand them back a ways till they fit better, then let 'em wear in.

I checked everything over and over, the shoes are the same as the old 1's.

I always dbl check the shoes are on correctly. more than a few times I have put on shoes, put everything back togther then notice it was on backwards lol... Actully I did the shoes about 1 week ago, got them all togther then, I noticed a defect ( crack ) in 1 shoe, and then noticed it was on backwards anyway.

I'll check them once more, then sand them down and clean them up with brake cleaner.. I didn't want to cut brand new drums

By chance, was there new master installed recently? I had one with the adjustable push rod that was a tad to long. Shortened up a couple of turns on the ball, that gave it the clearence it needed, no more dragging brakes. (It will be on the master end of the push rod, it would have a threaded shank and a set of flats like a bolt head would have. A 1/4 or 5/16 wrench will likely fit it. You will need to unbolt the master and move it ahead to see if it is the adjustable style push rod. I don't know of any other way to check. Sniper

I did put in a new M/C but it is non adjustable. the push rod just snaps into a keeper

Try cracking a bleeder screw and pushing in on the brake shoes.

I know you said the M/C rod is non-adustable, but somewhere in the mechanical end of things you should find a way to adjust brake pedal free-play.
Perhaps an eccentric if the pedals are firewall hung.

You need about 1/4" - 3/8" of free-play (pedal at the top via the return spring) then push the pedal and it should travel through the free-play and start pushing the M/C cylinder and applying hydraulic pressure to the brake system.

Looking from here, there's a chance you don't have any free-play at all, the hydaulic system is lightly pressurized and the brake shoes can't release - or back off - all the way.

Another one that happens with lack of free-play is the M/C port that supplies 'make-up' fluid is blanked off and can't replenish the fluid in the M/C cylinder proper.

Arcing used to be a part of all brake jobs done at brake shops, but they quit doing it because parts quality was high back in the day and it was deemed not necessary for most brake jobs.
The brake shoes wear in pretty fast, so I wouldn't worry about arcing them.

Is the drag factor so high you can't rotate the wheel by hand?
If it's just a little extra drag, go ahead and run them.
Doesn't take them long to break them in.

Don't sweat the break-in procedures either.
Just drive the car normally and the shoes will wear-in just fine.

Swapping shoes from side to side could tell you a lot.

Take a look at the box the shoes came in.
Made in China?
I've been hearing some interesting things about the poor fit of wheel cylinders bore to piston clearance.
Like in "way too much" clearance.

The brake shoes are rebuilt shoes, made in USA. Napa Tru- Stop brand which is a Raybestos brand.

I can turn the drums by hand but I can tell there is extra drag, I did take it down the road just for a quick test, and at slow speeds you can deffinetly hear them dragging. when I stopped. the drums were cold, I expected some heat..

I have the correct amount of free play in the pedal, I don't think the pedal adjustment is to fault. I did put on 2 new wheel cylinders on the front, there Dorman brand